Did You Remember?
by Ashira-chan
Summary: Neji and Tenten remember childhood memories, until Neji realizes that Tenten is a delicate woman beyond her strong and determined facade. They also realize that they have something in common: losing a loved one. NejiTen, ONE SHOT


**Ashira-chan:** YAY! MY FIRST NEJITEN FIC! WOO-HOO! Maybe I should take requests…What do you think?

**Dedication:** For all NejiTen fans. The only one NejiTen fan I remember is Neji X Tenten. Pretty obvious, right?

**Did You Remember?**

Team 13 Training Grounds 

"My youthful teammates! My youthful teammates!" screamed Lee as he ran towards Neji and Tenten.

"What now?" murmured Neji to himself.

"I have bad news!" said Lee between gasps for air.

"Eh? What?" asked the weapons master.

"Gai-sensei is sick so we couldn't train!"

Neji and Tenten shrugged. "That's supposed to be good news."

"Oh well." Said Lee as he walked away."

Moments Later… 

Neji and Tenten both sat under the shade of a huge tree, reminiscing the wonderful moments they had.

"Hey Neji."

"Hmm?"

"Did you remember the time when we first met?" asked Tenten.

"Ah, that." Said Neji, recalling memories. "Eight years ago, when we were both five…"

Eight years ago 

_Five-year-old Tenten sat under a huge tree, sobbing. She was holding her right knee and was wearing a black and white kimono decorated with pink cherry blossom petals, which reached below her knees. A single yellow bun tied by a red string kept her dark brown hair._

_Just then, a boy with brown hair and white eyes passed by. He noticed the sad girl so he stopped on his tracks. Sympathy clear on his eyes, he decided to talk to the girl._

"_Why are you crying?" asked the boy._

_Tenten, upon hearing the voice, looked up and wiped her tears away. "My knee got bruised. It really hurts." With this, she sobbed again and again._

_The boy kneeled and raised Tenten's kimono to show her right knee. He began treating her wound with a piece of cotton and alcohol._

"_Hey, how'd you get those…things?" asked Tenten as she looked at her wound being treated._

"_I bring them along." Said the boy._

"_You bring them along?" asked Tenten._

"_I bring them along."_

_Tenten chuckled. "You're like a Medic…Medic…"_

"_A Medic-Nin?" suggested the boy._

_Tenten nodded. "Yup, a Medic-Nin."_

"_But I'm not a Medic-Nin. I'm just a little boy." Said the lad._

"_I know that. Thanks for treating my wound! See you later!" Tenten said, waving her hands._

End of Flashback 

"I remember that well." Said Tenten with her hands behind her head.

"And we never got to know each other that time." Added Neji. Then he had an idea.

"Hey Tenten. Did you remember the time when we got to know each other's names?"

Tenten looked at the clear blue sky. She twirled her brown bangs and put her finger below her chin. After a while, she snapped her fingers. "Aha! I remember now!"

"_Good…"_ thought Neji.

"When we were both ten…" added Tenten.

Flashback, three years ago 

_Neji was sitting on the bridge near the gates of Konoha. His hair has grown longer than before. He threw some stones into the river when he suddenly heard a familiar voice, but now clearer and higher._

_Tenten tapped the lad's shoulder and Neji turned around in response._

"_Hey, you're that boy who treated my wound before, right?" asked Tenten._

"_And you're that girl under the tree." Replied Neji._

_Tenten nodded and sat beside Neji._

"_Hey, by the way…what's your name?" asked Tenten._

"_Neji. Hyuuga Neji. How about you?" asked Neji._

"_Tenten."_

_The lad stared at Tenten and blinked his eyes repeatedly. "Your surname is Ten and your first name is Ten?"_

"_Er…not exactly." Said Tenten._

"_What's your surname?" asked Neji._

_Tenten stared at her feet, not sure on what to say. "I don't know."_

"_You don't know?" asked Neji in disbelief._

_Tenten nodded._

End of Flashback 

"Now I really remembered that incident." Said Tenten after recalling the past events.

This got Neji thinking. "What's your surname anyway?"

"Surname? Well…I think I forgot."

"You forget your surname?"

"If not, I don't know."

"Oh well."

After a few minutes, Neji was thinking deeply and was staring at the clear blue sky. There was silence around the training grounds. The place seemed tranquil; the birds were tweeting sweet melodies, multicolored butterflies gently fluttered over the blossoming orchids, and it seemed that the verdant leaves whispered their secrets to each other as the wind passes by. He smiled. Yes, _smile._ He confessed it; he liked the scenery full of splendor around him. Ah, such sweet bliss…

Suddenly, Neji remembered Tenten. Tenten didn't sound a beep anymore. He looked at his side and saw Tenten staring at the sky as well, with clear tears falling down her soft rosy cheek. She was crying. He saw Tenten cry for the second time.

"Tenten? Are you crying?" asked the Hyuuga prodigy.

Tenten seemed to be startled and wiped her tears away. She tried to fight back the tears and tried to wear a false smile. "Me? N-no! I-I'm n-not c-cry-crying."

"There's no use to pretend, Tenten. Now tell me why you're crying."

"I'm not pretending and I'm not crying." She tried to sound cheerful, but it was no use.

"You're crying. Now tell me why."

Tenten frowned. "I give up. I admit it. I'm crying." she said softly, almost a whisper.

Neji comforted Tenten, holding her hands. Neji looked straight at Tenten's auburn eyes which contrasted his pale-hued eyes—eyes of determination and strength. "Tenten, just answer me. Why are you crying?"

Tenten avoided Neji's pearl-colored eyes. She looked away and finally replied, "I just remembered my mother, the time during the war…" With this, tears fell from her dark brown eyes again. **(1)**

Neji placed his arm around Tenten's shoulder. "I understand the pain of losing your loved one. I went through that kind of sadness too, Tenten. The pain I felt when I lost my father…" said Neji.

Tenten managed to smirk. "But you're luckier than me."

"Why?"

"In my case, I saw my mother lose her life right through my own eyes."

Neji widened his eyes, staring at his teammate and friend in disbelief. He realized how much pain Tenten has felt.

"Tenten, you're different from the average people. You are determined and brave, being able to stand up after the painful times of your life." said Neji.

Tenten stopped crying. "We have a lot in common, Neji."

"It's the first time you called me by name." the lad responded.

"Huh? Really?" asked Tenten. Neji nodded.

"You're the bravest woman I've ever met, Tenten." complimented Neji.

After a while, Tenten has fallen asleep; sitting under a huge tree with Neji's arms tenderly wrapped around her. They were destined by the arms of fate.

Neji continued:

_That's why I love you._

**Ashira-chan:** YES! AFTER HOURS OF TYPING, I'M FINALLY FINISHED! I know what you're thinking…this fic is SHORT. I know. Four pages seems to be short but hey, one thousand two hundred thirty-one words cost a lot of time in typing.

Read and review please! It would really please me… And also, I'm really not the 'romance writer' type, just slight romance.

**(1) **Tenten's mother didn't really die in the war (in the Naruto series) I just made that up for this fiction story. This _is_ a _fiction_ story, right?

**Ashira-chan:** I once planned that in my story, Neji would be calling Tenten as 'Tenten-chan'. Though Tenten is older than Neji (Tenten's birthday is March 9 while Neji's is July 3.) I decided that Neji would be calling Tenten as 'Tenten' because it'll be…awkward. Anyway, please review!


End file.
